There have been efforts to combat anti-asexual discrimination through legislation or education (such as asexual workshops).[7][8]

Classification

General

Behaviours and attitudes that are considered discriminatory include the idea that asexuality is a mental illness, that asexuality is a phase or a choice, the idea that asexual people cannot feel love, and those that make asexual people feel dehumanised.[2][9][10][11] Aspects of discrimination experienced can depend on other parts of one's identity.[12] As of February 2019, asexuality is a poorly-understood; in a Sky News survey, 53 per cent of the 1,119 people questioned felt confident in defining asexuality, but 75 per cent incorrectly did so or thought asexual people simply lacked libido.[13] In 2011, LGBT activist Dan Savage stated that asexuality is a choice, described it as "choosing not to have sex", and deemed it unworthy of attention.[14][15] Asexual people whose asexuality has been accepted only because there is no other explanation for their lack of interest in sex has been come to be known as an "unassailable asexual".[16] Disbelieving attitudes towards asexuality can leave asexual people afraid to come out.[16]

Asexuality has been seen as a joke.[17] One study found that asexual people are more dehumanised than heterosexuals, homosexuals, and bisexuals, often being compared to animals or robots due to their sexuality.[18][19][20] A different study, however, found little evidence of serious discrimination against asexuals because of their asexuality.[21] Having emerged more recently as an identity, asexual people often have less legal protection than gay, lesbian, and bisexual people,[22] although in New York, the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act categorises asexuals as a protected class.[23] Asexuals have also been known to have been subjected to corrective rape.[24][14][16] A 2015 survey found that 43.5 per cent of the almost 8000 asexual people polled had encountered sexual violence.[16] There is a misconception that asexual people are never in sexual situations and therefore cannot be sexually assaulted.[16]

Some, such as sociologist Mark Carrigan believe that asexual discrimination is more to do with marginalisation, and that a lot of it is a result of a lack of understanding and awareness of asexuality.[25][26] There is also controversy over the inclusion of asexuality in the LGBT and queer umbrellas for a variety of reasons, including the belief that asexuals do not experience oppression akin to homophobia and transphobia[15][14] and the belief that queer as a slur can only be reclaimed by those it has historically been used to oppress.[27]

Asexuals are less-well represented by mainstream media and services, facilitating hostility and prejudice towards asexuals, and can lead to their rejection from both the straight and LGBT communities. Some online dating services, including Tinder, Bumble, and Match.com, lack the option for users to identify as asexual, which obstructs their ability to find romantic partners.[28]

Institutionalised discrimination

In some jurisdictions, marriages can be voided if not legitimised by consummation.[29] This has been viewed as discriminatory to asexuals.[30]Sex education programmes in schools have also been known to discriminate against asexuals.[31][32]

Anti-discrimination endeavours

The Asexual Visibility and Education Network is an organisation founded in 2001 by David Jay, and aims to raise awareness of asexuality,[35] including by getting it discussed in schools to discourage discriminatory attitudes.[2] The Asexual Awareness Week is an organised event formed by Sarah Beth Brooks in 2010, also with the aim of raising asexual awareness and dispelling misconceptions about it.[10] There have been attempts to increase awareness of asexuality in universities.[36] Asexuals of the Mid-Atlantic is a meetup group for asexual people centred in Washington D.C.,[37][38] whose members founded The Asexual Awareness Project, an asexual advocacy organisation.[37]

In autumn (fall) 2014, the book The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality, written by Julie Sondra Decker, was published. Decker said that she would like to see the book used in sex education to increase common knowledge of sexuality.[39]

^"LGBTQrazy: A is for…". The Brunswickan (University of New Brunswick). Vol. 147 no. 7. 17 October 2013. p. 10. It’s important to talk about asexuality because it’s often an overlooked sexual identity, and acephobia – discrimination against asexual people – is experienced by many asexual people.

^Joelle Ruby Ryan, "On Being Asexual and Transgender: Notes on Identity, Visibility, and Empowerment", in Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender (ed. Laura Erickson-Schroth), Oxford University Press (2014), ISBN 9780199325368, page 367 "I now give asexual workshops, screen the film (A)sexual with a postfilm discussion, and try to have conversations with my friends and colleagues about asexual identity and acephobia

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